Air control for fresh food compartment quick chill operation

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a pair of mechanically controlled air regulating dampers used in the fresh food compartment of a refrigerator. Each of the dampers controls the admission of air from the freezer compartment into the quick chill portion of the fresh food compartment, with one of the dampers being manually set to maintain a desired temperature range within the fresh food compartment during normal operation without quick chill, and the other (quick chill) damper being used to control during a quick chill operation. The quick chill damper is coupled to a timer mechanism so that an increased setting of timer period for quick chill also increases the quick chill damper opening so that those items having a heavy cooling load to obtain quick chill have their requirements met by the simultaneous setting of the quick chill damper and the quick chill timer. The quick chill damper is arranged to be closed for any timer setting of say ten minutes or less. This feature provides for the quick chill cooling of food by only that air which is being circulated within the fresh food compartment.

[451 Sept. 18, 1973 United States Patent 1 Swaneck, Jr.

[ AIR CONTROL FOR FRESH FOOD COMPARTMENT QUICK CHILL OPERATION ABSTRACTThe invention provides a pair of mechanically con- Anthony J. Swaneck,Jr., Columbus, Ohio Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corporation,

[75] Inventor:

trolled air regulating dampers used in the fresh food compartment of arefrigerator. Each of the dampers controls the admission of air from thefreezer compartment into the quick chill portion of the fresh foodcompartment, with one of the dampers being manually set Pittsburgh, Pa.

[22] Filed: Dec. 15, 1971 Appl. No.: 208,219

to maintain a desired temperature range within the fresh foodcompartment during normal operation without quick chill, and the other(quick chill) damper being used to control during a quick chilloperation. The quick chill damper is coupled to a timer mechanism sothat an increased setting of timer period for quick chill also increasesthe quick chill damper opening so that those items having a heavycooling load to obtain quick chill have their requirements met by thesimultaneous setting of the quick chill damper and the References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS quick chill timer. The quick chill damper isarranged to be closed for any timer setting of say ten minutes or3,093,981 OGrady 62/419 less- This feature provides for the quick chillcooling of 3,659,429 McLean............................... 62/157 foodby only that air which is being circulated within the fresh foodcompartment. Primary ExaminerMeyer Perlin Altorney-F. H. Henson et al.

8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures x C l/ Patented Sept. 18, 1973 3Sheets-Sheet 2 l gvwwwwww w FIGZ Patented Sept. 18, 1973 3,759,053

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 AIR CONTROL FOR FRESH FOOD COMPARTMENT QUICK CHILLOPERATION RELATED CASES US. Pat. application No. 22,499, filed Mar. 25,1970, titled, REFRIGERATOR-FREEZER WITH FAST CHILL ARRANGEMENT, now U.S.Pat. No. 3,659,429, and owned by a common assignee describes arefrigerator-freezer yielding a quick chill mode of op eration.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to refrigerator/freezer damper arrangements and, moreparticularly, relates to an improved damper arrangement providing aquick chill function in the fresh food compartment of arefrigerator/freezer.

2. Description of the Prior Art The quick chill arrangement as presentlyprovided does not have its own damper. Thus the admission of air fromthe freezer side is dependent upon the position of the single primarydamper which is dependent in its setting upon the temperature within thefood compartment of the refrigerator. This primary damper opens andcloses, based on a desired and set temperature for the food compartmentas a whole. During a quick chill mode then, the quick chill operationalcycle has little influence on the operation of the automatic damper sothat the required quick chilling time of the food article can varyconsiderably depending on the existing position of the damper blade ascalled for by the temperature within the fresh food compartment.

If the damper is open at the start of quick chill, initial cooling willbe faster due to added cold air being force circulated in the quickchill compartment by the auxiliary quick chill fan. But for items thatare sensitive to freezing, this additional cold air can cause wiltingand discoloration. On the other hand, if the damper is closed at thebeginning of the quick chill cycle, the effectiveness of the chill cycleis reduced unless the automatic damper opens due to a temperature changewithin the fresh food compartment. Such a delay of damper openingreduces the effectiveness of cooling hot beverages, for example,resulting in longer cooling time to obtain a desired temperature.

Furthermore, the position of the damper is also dependent on theposition that the customer has set on the control dial for dictating thetemperature within the fresh food compartment. At the coldest positionthen, the quantity of cold air for quick chilling would be greater thanat the cool position which, again, would be greater than that if thedial were set at the normal position. Efficiency of the prior art quickchill, therefore, is also variable, depending upon the automatic dampercontrol position, as dictated by the original temperature set on thecontrol dial.

Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a dampercontrol systemfor a quick chill mode of operation which neither depended upon thesetting of the temperature within the fresh food compartment, nor thetemperature sensed by a thermostat which, in turn, controls an automaticdamper opening. It would additionally be advantageous to provide adegree of chilling during a quick chill operation which accords moreclosely to that required for the particular items to be cooled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a pair of mechanicallyoperated dampers which control the admission of air into a quick chillcompartment in the fresh food side of a refrigerator. The primary dampercontrols the flow of cold air from the freezer side of the refrigeratorfor overall cooling of the fresh food compartment, with this air beingcirculated through the fresh food compartment by a circulating fanmaintained in the freezer compartment. This primary damper is set by theuser of the refrigerator to a desired temperature range of the freshfood compartment.

The second damper controls the admission of air from the freezer sideduring a quick chill operation in accordance with the setting of themanually operated quick chill knob or dial. Mechanism connects the dialto the damper and a timer motor so that the chill time and damperopening are generally controlled together to provide within limits,greater damper openings with longer time settings. Thus, those itemshaving a high heat load, such as hot beverages and the like, not onlyhave an increased time duration for quick chill but also have anincreased amount of cooling air blown over them during the quick chillmode. A fan is disposed within the quick chill compartment to induce aflow of air through the opening controlled by the quick chill damperwith this fan discharging its air to the quick chill compartment in alocation so as to provide a back pressure against the flow of airthrough the opening controlled by the primary damper. Thus, during quickchill, the air flow within the fresh food compartment and quick chillcompartment is dependent primarily upon the flow of air induced by thequick chill fan.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 2 is a perspective view of thequick chill damper, timer and dial arrangement;

FIGS. 3 through 6 are partially perspective views of the setting of thequick chill damper, dependent upon the length of time of desired quickchill operation; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of one circuit that could be utilized in thepractice of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A refrigerator 10 (onlypartially shown) can be seen in FIG. 1 that includes a freezercompartment 12 and a quick chill compartment 14 disposed in and makingup a portion of a fresh food compartment 16. A fan 18, disposed in thefreezer compartment 12, provides a flow of circulating cooling airwithin the freezer compartment and also normally circulates cooling airthrough a flow path 20 to the quick chill compartment 14 and thence tothe remainder of fresh food compartment 16 so as to provide cooling tothem. An ordinary open-work refrigerator shelf (not shown) divides thequick chill compartment 14 from the remainder of the fresh foodcompartment 16 and also supports those articles of food which are toundergo quick chilling.

Cooling air flow to quick chill compartment 14 and the remainder offresh food compartment 16 through flow path 20 is modulated by means ofa damper 22 that moves between open and closed position over flow path20. Flow path 20 is formed partially by a passageway 24 in a sidewall 26dividing the frozen food compartment 12 from the fresh food compartment16 and a passageway 28 formed by a pair of sidewalls 30 and 32 extendingfrom the dividing wall 26 inwardly into the quick chill compartment 14.A bottom 33 and a top wall (not shown) complete the configuration of ahousing 35 for the passageway 28.

Disposed within this passageway and bearingly received by the sidewalls30 and 32 is an actuating shaft 36. This shaft mounts a dial 38 formanual manipulation at its outward and forward extremity for rotation ofthe shaft 36. A pinion 40 disposed on and fixed to rotate with the shaft36 drives a rack 42 that is fixed and integral with the damper 22. Thus,rotation of the pinion 40 as urged in its rotation by dial 38 moves therack 42 upwardly or downwardly to thereby move the first damper 22therewith to open and close the flow path 20.

The dial 38 includes a thin flange portion 44 of enlarged diameter whichspaces the same outwardly from a wall 46 which may be joined to thedividing side wall 26 and to a forwardly extending portion of wall 32 bya screw 48 or the like. The wall 46 may conveniently have indiciathereon to indicate settings for the damper 22. Such settings mayinclude cold, cool or normal with the damper 22 fully open for cold",closed slightly for cool" and closed completely or almost completely fornormal.

In order to insure that the damper 22 moves smoothly upwardly anddownwardly in its closing and opening motion relative to the flow path20, each of the walls 32 and 30 include projections 50 and 52 whichserve as a guiding means for the damper 22, the same having offsetportions 54, 54 intermediate their upper and lower ends so that eachoffset portion 54 and a major portion 56 extending above and below theoffset portion on each side provide a guideway in which the projection50 and 52 are inserted in a manner similar to the structure ofa quickchill damper 58 (FIG. 2). By the arrangement just described, then, flowof cooling air for the fresh food compartment 16 is provided through theflow path 20 from the freezer compartment 12, with the quantity of airmonitored by the easily movable damper 22 so that the fresh foodcompartment 16 may be kept at a temperature pursuant to the setting ofthe dial 38.

The second or quick chill damper 58 is also situated within the quickchill compartment 14, with this damper being disposed in a housing 60formed by a pair of side walls 62, 64 and a bottom 65. Since the housing60 is open at its inner end to the quick chill compartment 14 the sameprovides a passageway 68 extending partially through the quick chillcompartment 14 which, in conjunction with a passageway 70 formed in thedividing side wall 26, forms a flow path 72 for the flow of air from thefreezer compartment 12 to the quick chill compartment 14. The damper 58,of course, is placed in an obstructing or non-obstructing positionrelative to this flow path.

Quick chill damper 58 is guided in its upward and downward movement bymeans of a pair of offset portions 74, 74 formed intermediate its upperand lower ends so that a major portion 76 of the damper 58 extends aboveand below each offset portion and with the offset portions 74, 74extending generally parallel to the major portions 76 on each side ofthe damper 58 so that a guideway is formed on each side of the damper58. The guideways have received therein a pair of tabs 80, 80 which areintegral with andextend from'the sidewalls 62, 64. The quick chilldamper 58 can thereby be conveniently guided in its upward and downwardmovement relative to the flow path 72.

Extending through the front side wall 32 of housing 35 is a rotatableshaft 82 which controls the movement of the damper 58. At its outer endthe shaft 82 has fixed thereto a dial 84 (FIG. 2) which provides aconvenient means for grasping and rotating the shaft 82 by the user ofthe refrigerator l0. Shaft 82 is disposed vertically above the shaft 36for damper 22 so that there is no interference between the dials 84 and38 and so that an indicia means (not shown) may also be provided on thefront wall 46 of the quick chill compartment 14 so as to direct the userto the proper setting of the dial 84. Such indicia may provide a timeperiod extending from zero minutes to minutes, for example, to therebyprovide a varying chill time for food articles placed within quick chillcompartment 14.

Attached. to and fixed intermediate the frontward and rearwardterminations of the shaft 82 is a pinion gear 86, with this gear therebyrotating with shaft 82 as dial 84 is manipulated by the user of therefrigerator. Pinion gear 86 meshes with a rack gear 88. Disposed on anintegral portion of the damper 58. Thus, rotation of the pinion gear 86provides movement of the damper 58 in an upward or downward direction tothereby provide a varying flow rate of cold air from freezer compartment12 to quick chill compartment 14. A template 90 may be mounted betweenthe dividing wall 26 and housing 60 to provide an aperture 92 of areduced size which may conveniently cooperate with the damper 58 duringits monitoring of the air flow through flow path 72.

Mounted on a rear wall 94 of quick chill compartment 14 is a quick chilltimer motor 96 that operates for the set duration of the quick chillcycle by rotating the pinion gear 86 in the reverse direction from whichit has been set to open the damper 58. Rotation of the pinion gear 86,as driven by the timer motor 96, closes off the aperture 92progressively until ten minutes time is reached on the dial 84. Timermotor 96 may be removed from the main flow of air through flow path 72within quick chill compartment 14 by a means of a housing 98 thatextends therearound and is attached by any conventional means to therear wall 94 of the quick chill compartment 14 and the dividing wall 26of the refrigerator 10.

Disposed rightwardly of quick chill timer housing 58 (FIG. I) is a fanmotor housing 100 in which is disposed a fan motor 102 that rotates afan blade 104 located outwardly of the fan housing 100 by a fan shaft106. A fan shroud 108 is attached to front sidewall 30 by means ofself-threading screws 110 although it could be an integrally moldedassemblage or the like, and extends in an annular manner around the fanblade 104 so as to provide a guide means for the air being moved by thisfan blade. The opposite side of the fan shroud 108 isattached to a wallextension 110 extending forwardly from the rear wall of the quick chillcompartment 14.

Operation of fan blade 104 includes a flow of air so that air movesthrough the flow path 72 and is discharged by the fan blade 104forwardly thereof into the remainder of the quick chill compartment 14.Such a discharge of air (at this time with the damper 58 at leastpartially open) provides a pressure buildup of air adjacent the damper22 so that there is a tendency for the air passing through the air flowpath to be stagnated at this point so that substantially all the aircirculated within quick chill compartment 14 is air which has beenimparted to this compartment through the flow path 72. Thus, operationof the quick chill compartment 14, during a quick chill mode with thedamper 58 at least partially open, is substantially independent of theflow of air through the air passageway 20.

In the event that a short quick chill time period is required or desiredand the dial 84 is rotated to ten minutes time duration or less, itemssuch as lettuce and salads may be quick chilled 'without browning. Thedamper 58 for such a time period is closed because the damper has notmoved sufficiently far to provide an air flow through flow path 72. Thefan blade 104 would still rotate but would tend to draw air from thefood compartment 16 and the quick chill compartment 14 to provide a flowof circulating air through the fan shroud 108 and quick chillcompartment 14. Again a pressure head is provided on the inner side ofthe damper 22 so that no flow of air would tend to move through the flowpassage 20 to the quick chill compartment. Thus, a substantialindependence from the normal cooling air flow through damper 22 isachieved during a quick chill cycle when the damper 58 is entirelyclosed. Of course, when the damper 58 is in the final ten minute timeperiod of any time period set by the dial 84, circulation of air withinthe fresh food compartment, with no discharge from flow passageways 20and 72, would be the only air available for the quick chill mode.

Turning now to FIG. 7 wherein a schematic diagram of the instantinvention is provided, it can be seen that the timer motor 96 includes acam or cam surface 112 which rotates into engagement with a switch 114to cause the same to open (illustrated position), interrupting operationof the fan motor 102 and the timing motor 96. The manner by which thisis accomplished will now be detailed. A lead 116 extends from one sideof an alternating current power supply to the timing motor 96. Theopposite side of the timing motor is connected to a lead 118 thatextends to a contact 120 of the switch 114. The opposite side of theswitch 114 is connected to a lead 122 extending to fan motor 102, withthe opposite side of this fan motor connected to a lead 124 that extendsback to the other side of the alternating current power supply. The dial84, pinion gear 86, and the timer motor 96 are, of course, all connectedmechanically so that movement of one calls for movement of the others.The timer 96 may also take the form of the common, wind-up mechanicaltimer which controls a switch 114.

Assuming now, for example, that a time of set duration is dialed for thequick chill mode of operation by means of dial 84. This rotation of dial84 causes a consequent rotation of pinion gear 86 and a partial or fullopening of damper 58. At the same time, timer motor 96 has been rotatedso as to place cam surface 112 in a disengaged position relative to theswitch 114 so that the contact 120 is closed energizing the timer motor96 and fan motor 102. Timer motor 96 operates to slowly turn the cam 112and pinion gear 86 to close the damper 58. After the elapse of the timerset by dial 84, the cam surface 112 again engages the switch 114 movingthe same out of contact with its contact 120 and terminating theoperation of the timer motor 96 and fan motor 102.

As set up previously, the maximum time period which could be set withdial 84 was chosen as minutes. If the dial is rotated to such aposition, the damper 58 is in its fully open position relative to theaperture 92, with this damper slowly closing until it reaches its closedposition with ten minutes left of the time period set. Thus, the damper58 slowly limits, to a greater and greater extent, the amount of airprovided for the quick chill mode as the time period set decreasestoward zero.

FIGS. 3 to 6 illustrate, generally the relationship of the damper 58 tothe pinion gear 86 as the time set by the dial 84 is varied. FIG. 3shows, in full lines, the position of the damper 58 in its closedposition at a zero time setting on the dial 84. FIG. 4 illustrates theposition of the damper 58 when the dial 84 has been set at 15 minutes.FIG. 5 illustrates the position of the damper 58 when the dial 84 hasbeen positioned to set up a 45 minute time period for the quick chillmode, and FIG. 6 is an illustration of the damper and aperture when atime period of 90 minutes has been set for the quick chill cycle. Itshould be specifically noted that, because of the relative size andlocation of the damper 58 and aperture 92, the damper 58 is fully openin both FIGS. 5 and 6 so that the quick chill operates with maximum airbetween the time of 90 minutes and the time of 45 minutes. It shouldalso be again noted that the damper 58 remains closed for zero minutesup to 10 minutes of remaining time and the same would assume theposition shown in broken lines in FIG. 3 for this 10 minute or lessertime setting.

It should be obvious that varying times could be provided for thesetting of the damper 58 so that it would be disposed in slightlydifferent positions than those shown in FIGS. 36, depending upon thetime duration of damper operation desired. However, FIGS. 3-6 areconsidered to provide a general damper and dial arrangement that hasbeen utilized to provide a very effective but manually variable quickchill cycle.

It should be recognized by one skilled in the art that an air controlarrangement for a quick chill cycle of operation of a refrigerator hasbeen described, that satisfied all the advantages set out in thebeginning portion of the description. It should, further, be obvious toone skilled in the art that many modifications can be made to theembodiment described as exemplary which would still fall within thespirit and purview of the description offered. I 1

I claim as my invention:

1. In a control arrangement for a refrigerating device including afreezer space and a refrigerator space and having a quick chill space inthe refrigerator space, including;

a fan means in said quick chill space for circulating air thereabout;

a timer means for controlling said fan means;

manually operative means for setting said timer means;

an air passageway between said freezer space and said quick chill space;

a damper for said air passageway;

said manually operative means for setting said timer means beingoperative to position said damper simultaneously.

2. In the control arrangement of claim 1 wherein;

a. said damper is moved, generally and within limits, to assume a lessand less interfering position to the flow of cooling air from saidfreezer space to said quick chill space as said timer means is manuallyset for a longer and longer time period of quick chill operation.

3. In the control arrangement of claim 1 wherein;

a. said manually operative means includes a manually manipulated knoband gear means mounted on a common shaft.

4. In the control arrangement of claim 1 wherein;

a. said timer means may be set for any one of a number of time periods;

b. said damper is arranged to remain in a closed position for those timeperiods not exceeding a selected time period.

5. In a control and air circulation arrangement for a refrigeratingdevice including a freezer space and a refrigerator space and having aquick chill compartment in the refrigerator space, including;

a. first and second air passageways for the supply of cooling air fromsaid freezer space to said quick chill compartment,

b. first and second damper means for said first and second airpassageways, respectively,

c. a first fan means in said freezer space for moving air through saidfirst air passageway,

d. a second fan means in said quick chill compartment for circulatingair in said compartment and drawing air through said second airpassageway when said second passageway is open,

c. said second fan means when operating creating an air flow conditionat said first passageway opposing the admission of air flow through saidfirst air passageway to said quick chill compartment.

6. In the control and air circulation arrangement of claim 5 wherein;

a. said second fan means when operating creating said air flow conditionirrespective of the position of said second damper.

7. In the control and air circulation arrangement of claim 5 wherein;

a. said first damper means controls a flow of cooling air through saidfirst air passageway to modulate the temperature of a fresh foodcompartment of said refrigerator,

b. timer means is provided for controlling periods of operation of saidsecond fan means,

0. said second damper means is positionable in accordance with settingof said timer means.

8. In a refrigerator-freezer of the character having a fast chillcompartment in the refrigerator side with a timer controlled fan forcirculating air in said chill compartment, an air flow and controlarrangement comprising:

means defining an opening through which air is adapted to be admittedfrom the freezer side to said chill compartment;

damper means for said opening;

manually operated means for setting said timer for any of a number ofperiods of fan operation and concurrently establishing a setting of saiddamper means.

* k I t

1. In a control arrangement for a refrigerating device including afreezer space and a refrigerator space and having a quick chill space inthe refrigerator space, including; a fan means in said quick chill spacefor circulating air thereabout; a timer means for controlling said fanmeans; manually operative means for setting said timer means; an airpassageway between said freezer space and said quick chill space; adamper for said air passageway; said manually operative means forsetting said timer means being operative to position said dampersimultaneously.
 2. In the control arrangement of claim 1 wherein; a.said damper is moved, generally and within limits, to assume a less andless interfering position to the flow of cooling air from said freezerspace to said quick chill space as said timer means is manually set fora longer and longer time period of quick chill operation.
 3. In thecontrol arrangement of claim 1 wherein; a. said manually operative meansincludes a manually manipulated knob and gear means mounted on a commonshaft.
 4. In the control arrangement of claim 1 wherein; a. said timermeans may be set for any one of a number of time periods; b. said damperis arranged to remain in a closed position for those time periods notexceeding a selected time period.
 5. In a control and air circulationarrangement for a refrigerating device including a freezer space and arefrigerator space and having a quick chill compartment in therefrigerator space, including; a. first and second air passageways forthe supply of cooling air from said freezer space to said quick chillcompartment, b. first and second damper means for said first and secondair passageways, respectively, c. a first fan means in said freezerspace for moving air through said first air passageway, d. a second fanmeans in said quick chill compartment for circulating air in saidcompartment and drawing air through said second air passageway when saidsecond passageway is open, e. said second fan means when operatingcreating an air flow condition at said first passageway opposing theadmission of air flow through said first air passageway to said quickchill compartment.
 6. In the control and air circulation arrangement ofclaim 5 wherein; a. said second fan means when operating creating saidair flow condition irrespective of the position of said second damper.7. In the control and air circulation arrangement of claim 5 wherein; a.said first damper means controls a flow of cooling air through saidfirst air passageway to modulate the temperature of a fresh foodcompartment of said refrigerator, b. timer means is provided forcontrolling periods of operation of said second fan means, c. saidsecond damper means is positionable in accordance with setting of saidtimer means.
 8. In a refrigerator-freezer of the character having a fastchill compartment in the refrigerator side with a timer controlled fanfor circulating air in said chill compartment, an air flow and controlarrangement comprising: means defining an opening through which air isadapted to be admitted from the freezer side to said chill compartment;damper means for said opening; manually operated means for setting saidtimer for any of a number of periods of fan operation and concurrentlyestablishing a setting of said damper means.